Description
Mojave Audio’s interpretation of the classic ELAM 251, one of the most coveted tube mics of all time, featuring Technical Grammy award-winning microphone designer David Royer’s personal touch
Coming in at about 1/10th the cost of a 251 on the vintage market, the Mojave Audio MA-1000 provides old-school sound with modern performance and reliability. The MA-1000 can handle extreme dynamics without breaking a sweat, and lends a sweet, silky high end to vocals that eliminates the need for EQ. Plus, like its inspiration, the MA-1000 captures enough midrange and low end information for vocals to sit in a mix with authority, and stand out without sounding hyped. Just a little low-frequency roll-off and you’re done—magic included. The MA-1000 features an original new old-stock JAN 5840 tube, 251-style capsule, and custom-designed transformer built by Coast Magnetics. Along with its sweet, airy top end and accurate bass, the MA-1000 gives you the sound and feel of being in the room with the artist. The MA-1000 Signature Series has been exhaustively field-tested to produce the same wow factor as microphones often costing $20K or more With its performance, reliability, and jaw-dropping sound quality, Mojave’s MA-1000 Signature Series microphone is destined to be a studio classic.
Mojave Audio MA-1000 Signature Series in one take:
- Original new old-stock 5840 tube
- 251-style capsule
- Custom designed transformer by Coast Magnetics
- Remotely controlled, continuously variable polar pattern selector, located on power supply
- Switchable 15dB pad
- Switchable Bass Roll-off
- Internal switchable power supply voltage
- American Classic Design
- Comes with Sling-Shock licensed from Royer Labs
- Premium Mogami cable and Neutrik connectors
Mojave Audio MA-1000 Signature Series in depth
The Mojave Audio MA-1000 Signature Series large-diaphragm tube condenser mic is David Royer’s modern take on the vintage Telefunken ELAM 251, one of the most beautiful and commanding microphones that defined the sound of vocal recording. Featuring Royer’s own personal design touches, the MA-1000 was designed not only for wow factor, but also for long-term reliability with minimal maintenance—a feature built into all microphones that bear the Royer name. The MA-1000 owes its commanding lows and silky highs to an original JAN 5480 mini tube, a 251-style capsule, and hefty custom-designed transformer by Coast Magnetics. Its transducer is an externally polarized, pressure gradient capacitor, featuring a 3-micron, gold-sputtered, 1″ double diaphragm. The Mojave MA-1000 also comes with a special shockmount known as the Sling-Shock, created and licensed by Royer Labs.
Remote controlled, continuously variable polar patterns
Rather than fixed polar patterns, the MA-1000 adapts to all environments with a continuously adjustable, remote polar pattern selector, which is a rotary knob found on the front panel of the power supply. The selector lets you choose omnidirectional, cardioid, and figure eight, or a point in-between. Depending on the source, mic placement, and room characteristics, a point in between will yield the most favorable result. For example, setting the selector to a 2 o’clock position can be an especially pleasant pattern for recording vocals. Also, for close miking of an acoustic guitar in cardioid, rotating the selector towards omni (counterclockwise) can reduce excessive proximity effect (unwanted bass buildup).
Bass roll-off
When engaged, the bass roll-off switch, also known as bass cut or high-pass filter, provides a 6dB per octave attenuation below 100Hz. This is very useful in removing unwanted low frequency information such as HVAC noise, rumble, or bass build-up due to proximity effect. A common practice of experienced engineers is to filter out low frequencies when it does not affect the sound. A good example of this would be recording vocals, which in most cases have little frequency information below 100Hz; so engaging a filter will help maintain the integrity of the signal.
15dB pad
The 15dB pad attenuates the signal before the head amplifier in the microphone. This is very useful for recording high SPL signals. If you are experiencing distortion, engaging the pad will likely be the solution.
Additionally, even with the input gain control all the way down on some preamps, there’s still a certain amount of gain. If you have the gain on your mic preamp all the way down and the signal is still over-driving your signal path, engaging the pad would be the answer.
Recommended Applications:
- Vocals and voice-overs
- Broadcast
- Acoustic instruments
- Piano
- Drum overheads, drum rooms
- Orchestral recording
- Choral recording
If you’ve been longing for the quality of vocals that previously came with a $20k price tag on the vintage market and a lot of luck add a Mojave MA-1000 to mic cabinet and thank us later. For more information, call or chat with your Westlake Pro Audio representative today.
Mojave Audio MA-1000 Signature Series Specifications:
- Transducer type: externally polarized, pressure gradient capacitor—double diaphragm
- Diaphragm: 1-inch diameter, gold sputtered
- Diaphragm thickness: 3-microns
- Polar pattern: continuously variable from omnidirectional to figure eight
- Frequency response: bass cut switch provides 6dB per octave attenuation below 100Hz in “cut” setting
- Sensitivity: omni -37.5dB, cardioid -36.0dB, figure-8 -34.0dB re: 1v/pa
- Maximum SPL: 120dB with pad off, 135dB with pad on
- Distortion: < 1% @ 117dB SPL, < 3% @ 125dB SPL with pad off < 1% @ 132dB SPL, < 3% @ 140dB SPL with pad on
- Self-noise: 14dB nominal, not to exceed 16dB (a weighted)
- Pad: 15dB
- Bass cut: 6dB per octave below 100Hz
- Impedance: 200 ohm
- Power requirement: 6VDC @ 150 mA. 125VDC @ .7 mA (from dedicated power supply)
Mojave Audio MA-1000 Dimensions and weight
Carrying case with microphone, power supply, shock mount and cables: 13 lb. (5.9kg)
Microphone: 7-5/8″ x 2″ (194mm x 51mm), 1 lb. (0.45kg)